Glenn Martens kicks off Diesel career with amorous neo-realism

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Feb 15, 2021

Glenn Martens, the recently installed creative director of Diesel, has unveiled his first ideas for the Italian marque, an amorous yet gritty neo-realist video.

 
Entitled 'When Together,' it features eight real-life couples in intimate moments in their own homes, not infrequently about to get into bed, wearing looks from spring/summer 2021.
 
To Martens the fashion flick is about “physically and emotionally reconnecting in bliss following periods of absence from each other’s lives.”

Shot largely in close up in New York apartments and lofts, one could glimpse hints of Martens’ early ideas for Diesel – from the logo underpants and kicky motorbike jackets to the clingy paisley tanks or baggy jeans.
 
“Being in love is not about anything, it’s about just rambling. It’s so cool,” explains one guy, while another expounds, “when we are in bed we look like a puzzle of the same person.” 
 
Whether straight, gay or interracial, the couples unzipped each other’s denim jackets or gradually strip for action in a bathroom, in a film shot and directed by Cheryl Dunn.
 
“Whether isolated from one another by walls, streets, borders, or seas, it is time apart that has fueled longing, desire and the subsequent ecstasy of being back together,” says Martens, in his first campaign for the house. 
 
The Belgian-born designer, known as an avowed yet commercial conceptualist, plans to reveal his first full collection for Venetian-based Diesel in June, in a yet-to-be-decided format.